
M WAQAR..... "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." --Albert Einstein !!! NEWS,ARTICLES,EDITORIALS,MUSIC... Ze chi pe mayeen yum da agha pukhtunistan de.....(Liberal,Progressive,Secular World.)''Secularism is not against religion; it is the message of humanity.'' تل ده وی پثتونستآن
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
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Q&A: 'India warned 26 times' before Mumbai
A recent book, authored by British investigative journalists, offers insight into what led to the deadly Mumbai attacks.India is observing the fifth anniversary of 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which over 160 people were killed by a group of armed men in almost three days of mayhem. Now a recent book, The Siege: The Attack on the Taj, authored by British investigative journalists Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, offers an insight into what led to the Mumbai attacks, lapses on the Indian side, the role of the CIA’s proxy elements and the Pakistan-based armed group Lashkar-e-Toiba’s (LeT). Both authors specialise in investigative journalism and have previously written a controversial book, The Meadow: Kashmir 1995, a meticulous account of a ruthless kidnapping that paved the way for the 9/11 attacks on the US. In an interview with Al Jazeera’s Baba Umar, Adrian Levy talks about the Mumbai attacks, the Pakistani plot to it, the US role and the credibility of Indian intelligence agencies. Al Jazeera: First The Meadow, now The Siege. These non-fiction thrillers have come back to back in a span of just a few years. Can you tell us about the research process involved in your latest book? Adrian Levy: "It's a laborious process of hanging facts and characters on a giant exoskeleton. We're both on our hands and knees piecing things together when we see each other. The truth, or versions of it, is compelling and addictive. These kinds of stories require you to reach out and not to censor yourself. South Asia is mostly the common denominator and that's where we have spent so many years." Al Jazeera: Can you take us to Pakistan where the attack was planned? Your argument is the attacks were ‘deliberate’ and supported by Pakistan's ISI. Who in ISI planned it? And did the government in Pakistan have any clue about it? Levy: "We spent a good deal of time in Pakistan and there is no evidence that the government there was culpable. In anyway, they were caught out as was everyone else. Lashkar's complex relationship with its mentors in the ISI is more fraught. The outfit is packed with soldiers and spies, but how many are serving and who is influential. Although created as a creature of covert foreign policy, Lashkar was disintegrating after the Lal Masjid raid in 2007, when Pakistani forces stormed a mosque in Islamabad, to end a siege there. A significant section was against the old council, and anti-Pak security establishment. A small section remained loyal. Mumbai was mooted as a band-aid, it seems. It appealed to the old guard as India remained the target, and to the new guard as the West too could be targeted. Jews. Americans. Europeans. "But even though individuals in the ISI seem to have attached themselves to the Mumbai plot, it is less easy to say that the institution was involved." Al Jazeera: You claim India had prior information about the attacks. Who in India knew about it? Levy: "There was a clear trail of warnings. We found 26 in all. They were very detailed. RAW [Research and Analysis Wing, the key external intelligence agency] and the Intelligence Bureau knew Mumbai was being targeted and that Lashkar was the author. They knew which targets were being cased too. And that a seal landing was likely. But then the US knew a good deal about 9/11 and could not prevent it, and several of the 7/7 bombers were on the British watch list but evaded capture." Al Jazeera: The intelligence source inside Lashkar-e-Toiba had given the tip-off. What was the level of this source? Does it mean Lashkar is no longer impenetrable? Levy: "Lashkar has always been a leaky ship. David Headley penetrated LeT and did it for the US, his supposed clients. He also seems to have done it for himself, as he found within himself a hatred of the West as he embraced Islam. "Headley's information was stripped of identifications and dispatched to India. Would these gobbets have been taken more seriously if India had known the source?" Al Jazeera: The book also speaks of the presence of a Lashkar super-agent ‘Honey Bee’ in India? Is ‘Honey Bee’ an agent within India’s RAW, IB or what? Levy: "The ISI claimed to have a super-agent. Was it classic counter espionage? A red herring to make Mumbai appear to come from within and not without? Certainly some training materials found in Karachi seem to have stemmed from India which gave Lashkar an insight into Indian counter hostage strategy. The NSG (Indian National Security Guards) said the same when they confronted the LeT squad in the tower." Al Jazeera: Has India tried hard to expose this mole? Levy: "We don't know. India was warned by a Gulf intelligence agency." Al Jazeera: Hafiz Saeed of Jama'at-ud-Dawa in Pakistan has always denied having any role in the attacks. India blames him directly and wants Pakistan to act? The Pakistani courts have not found anything incriminating against him? Where does he fit in all this? Levy: "Hafiz Saeed is the emir of the spiritual wing in the same way Sinn Fein is the fig leaf for the IRA. He undoubtedly knew, but being the consummate political animal that he is, he was careful to conceal his presence and there is no hard evidence linking him apart from hearsay. However, LeT is a disciplined outfit and it is inconceivable that Hafiz Saeed did not know. But this is not enough to convict him in court." Al Jazeera: The Mumbai attack was meticulously planned; the masterminds mixed technology with terror, reconnaissance was done and what not. What do we know about the nine other attackers who came with Ajmal Kasab? Levy: "Nine of the 10 were similar; peasant boys from dysfunctional families in Eastern and Southern Punjab [in Pakistan]. Some grew up on the Indian border. Others in its shadow. Most of those who made the final team were brought up in areas where Jihad as an aspiration provides the only hope of lifting the populace out of misery." Al Jazeera: Lashkar-e-Toiba fighters have mostly fought in Kashmir. They took the fight to Mumbai in 2008. Are you among those who believe Kashmir and Mumbai is linked? Levy: "Lashkar had split after 9/11 and a splinter was going global, having moved to the UK to secure new funding and cadre. It was doing the same across Europe and had even targeted an Australian nuclear site. This was known and the information passed to the White house in 2007. The Bush Administration rejected the dossier as Lashkar was seen as the creature of the Pakistani military, and to attack it would distance the US from its ally, the Pakistani military. Nothing was done. "The Kashmir campaign represented the interests of only one faction within Lashkar. And so the linkage between Kashmir and Mumbai is that the Mumbai operation was conceived to enable Lashkar to continue and the ISI to wield it as part of its Kashmir policy."
India: Important to bring 26/11 perpetrators to justice: UN official
As India marks the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, it is "important" that the perpetrators of the "terrible crime" should be brought to justice, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon's spokesman said.
The 26/11 terror attacks, in which 166 people were killed was a "terrible crime, an awful terrorist attack," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky told PTI here.
"Certainly, it is important that those who were responsible are brought to justice. There has already been some action in that regard," he said.
A commemorative event marking the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai attacks has been organized in New York by the American India Public Affairs Committee along with the American Jewish Committee Asia Pacific Region.
Five years ago, 10 LeT terrorists launched coordinated attacks across key locations in Mumbai killing 166 people, including American citizens.
India has demanded that the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage should be brought to justice and Pakistan should swiftly conclude the 26/11 trial of the accused.
It feels Pakistan is not making any progress in its investigation of the attack and those responsible for it.
In a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in September, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had demanded effective action to bring to justice the perpetrators of 26/11 terror attack.
Sharif had told Singh that action would be taken against the perpetrators.
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Pakistan still complacent five years after 26/11
Five years ago, a militant group from Pakistan unleashed havoc on the Indian financial hub of Mumbai, killing over 160 people in over two days of terror. Pakistan continues to refuse to confront the issue.
The evening of November 26, 2008 starts like any other in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai. Hundreds of thousands of commuters are on their way home; hotels and restaurants in the south of the city center are filled with people from the city and from all over the world.
And then it happens - the moment "26/11" becomes etched into India's collective memory: without warning, Islamist terrorists create a bloodbath, opening fire on crowds of people using automatic weapons, bombs and hand grenades. Their targets include anyone who appears to be a Jew, American or British national. They take hostages in hotels and shops; a Jewish establishment is stormed.
Indian media do not hold back from showing live pictures of the havoc and death being wrought upon the city. The images are broadcast around the world. Fighting between the terrorists and security forces lasts two days. At the end of the ordeal, on November 29, nine terrorists are dead. One of the perpetrators, the Pakistani national Ajmal Kasab, is overpowered and taken into police custody. In the incident, 166 people, mostly Indians, lost their lives. According to Amnesty International, around 300 people were injured.
'War against India'Shortly after the attack, Pakistani authorities arrest a number of suspects, seven of whom are still being tried by an anti-terrorism court, according to media reports. In 2013, US citizen David Coleman Headley was sentenced to 35 years by a US federal court in Chicago, Illinois, for helping plot the attacks. Kasab was indicted in India and put on trial for "waging war against India." He was sentenced to death and hanged in November 2012. Five years after the attacks, investigators in India and the US have come a long way in getting behind the motives, thanks to confessions by Headley and Kasab. Both of the confessions blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist organization which operates from Lahore, Pakistan, and which has close ties to the Pakistani military secret service Inter-Services Intelligence, and which has for many years been carrying out attacks in Indian Kashmir as a non-state actor. The group was declared a terrorist organization as early as 2001 by the US. No interest in investigations Pakistan has so far failed to help with the investigations. Arshad Mahmood, a Pakistani historian, tells DW that Islamabad 's claims that New Delhi hasn't brought forward any hard evidence against the suspects are baseless. "Pakistan clearly doesn't want any investigation linking it to the attacks. This would be a humiliation." But, according to Toqeer Gilani, a political activist in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, there is more behind Islamabad's refusal to cooperate than just an attempt to keep face. "I am convinced that Islamic organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba are supported by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Taking action against the group would be like attacking the components of the state," he said. Five years on, the dialogue process between the two countries is still sluggish. Vinod Sharma, a journalist working for the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times, views the events of November 26, 2008 as a massive setback. "And the mistrust became even greater, as it became clear that Pakistan wouldn't bring those behind the attack to justice." This view is shared by Mahmood, who says it will be very difficult for India to overcome the trauma of Mumbai as long as Pakistan doesn't take action against those responsible. "And this is not to be expected," he adds. A difficult dialogue Sharma is of the opinion that the media in both countries bear some responsibility for the stalemate between the nuclear neighbors. He says it has become common practice in India to attack Pakistan and vice versa. "It helps nobody. Politics must be based on dialogue, but this is something that is ignored by the media in both nations," the journalist criticizes. However, Sharma remains optimistic about the future of bilateral relations. He argues that Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came into office on the promise of normalizing ties with India, something viewed positively by Indians. "We believe that Sharif's election has been the best opportunity in a long time to improve Indo-Pakistani ties. But a lot depends on whether Sharif will be able to assert himself." Analysts suspect, however, this could be difficult, as extremists can even count on support from members of the Muslim League, Sharif's party. But the improvement of relations also depends on India, which is set to hold parliamentary elections next spring. It remains to be seen, however, whether this will lead to better relations with Pakistan. Polls put the India's ruling Congress party behind the Hindu nationalists of the BJP. In the current situation, the government is unlikely to make Pakistan any offer for talks.
Pakistan: ‘56 women killed in 2013 for giving birth to girls’
The Express TribuneFifty-six women have been killed in Pakistan this year for giving birth to a girl rather than a boy, human rights activist IA Rehman said at a symposium here on Monday. “A country where mothers are killed for giving birth to baby girls can’t be called an ethical society,” Rehman said at the symposium, titled ‘Youth emerging as a force for positive change’, meant to mark the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women. The event was arranged by the All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA). From January 2012 to September 2013, there were also 90 acid attacks on women, 72 cases of burning caused by other means, 491 cases of domestic violence, 344 cases of gang rape and 835 cases of violence, he said. “Young girls are being raped in Pakistan and all we do is shout rather that do anything practical,” he said. Rehman said that giving girls and boys equal access to education and introducing a uniform education system for the rich and the poor would bring about positive changes in Pakistan. “It has taken us 62 years to say that education is a basic right,” he said. Supreme Court Advocate Shamsa Ali said a third of seats in local government should be reserved for women. This would make local bodies a nursery for young female politicians, she said. She added that there should be a zero tolerance policy towards violence against women. She said that Pakistan had ratified the UN Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, but had not fully implemented it. APWA Chairwoman Ruhi Sayid said that the association had taken many initiatives to help victims of violence.
Pakistan: PTI indulging in non-issues
Daily TimesQaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao said on Monday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was indulging in non-issues as it had failed to deliver on its pledges. “The PTI government has totally failed to deliver,” he told a press conference at Watan Kor, the party’s central secretariat in Hayatabad. On the occasion, PTI leader in Nowshera district Malik Fayazur Rehman announced joining QWP along with his dozens of his supporters and workers. Sikandar Sherpao said the issue of law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was worsening day by day, which has slowed down the economic development of the province. “The deteriorating law and order has caused great concern and unrest among people as they feel insecure in the prevailing circumstances,” he maintained. The QWP leader said the provincial government should have solved the problems being faced by people instead of indulging in non-issues. He said the rulers have overlooked the problems, which needed to be addressed on a priority basis. He said the provincial government had miserably failed to play a proactive role in safeguarding the interests of the province. He said the rulers had taken no step to put pressure on the federal government to pay the arrears of the net hydel profit to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was its due right. Sikandar Sherpao said that next year the yield of wheat crop would not be up to the mark due to wrong policies of the provincial government. He said farmers had not been given good quality of wheat seed as flour shortage would hit the province in the next season if corrective steps were not taken forthwith. He said that unannounced and unscheduled power and gas outages had made life miserable for people. He said housewives found it difficult to cook food for their families as the gas supply remains suspended for long hours. staff report
Pakistan: KP’s real issues succumb to PTI’s populist approach

11 kidnapped private school teachers freed in Khyber Agency

Pakistan: Rimsha’s Neighbors Remain Homeless, Plead Government For Help

The fearful residents of Rimsha Masih’s neighborhood still living homeless even after a non-violent settlement of Rimsha’s case. - See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/rimshas-neighbours-remain-homeless-plead-government-for-help/#sthash.LLFqUcWt.dpufThe Christian residents of Mehrabad were forced to flee from their homes during the Rimsha Masih blasphemy row and are still homeless; getting ever more desperate. In access of 800 to 1,000 Christian families residents of Mehrabad are still living in tents or temporary shelters as they fear a violent welcome upon return to their homes in the area. It has been more than a year since they fled their homes anticipating the grave circumstances amid blasphemy accusation on Rimsha Masih a 14 year old Christian resident of the same locality. The escapees to a large extent lack even basic needs for instance clean water for drinking moreover they fear officials may sooner or latter compel them to move on from their present makeshift shelters. Some sources say, ”The Christians still fear retaliatory attacks from Islamist extremists enraged by the blasphemy accusations made against Rimsha, a teenager with learning difficulties, in August 2012.” Rimsha Masih was arrested in August 2012 in Islamabad after a Muslim cleric accused her of burning pages of the Qur’an. She was therefore held in jail for three weeks before she finally was released on bail, however the complainant cleric was later accused of manufacturing fake evidence against her and consequently, the case against the girl was dropped. Rimsha however, could have faced life in prison if found guilty over allegations. This case drew extensive international condemnation. After the case against her was quashed in November, Rimsha Masih and her family were also forced into hiding nonetheless they took refuge under government security the family feared of their lives. After Rimsha was acquitted of blasphemy in November 2012 and she was later granted asylum, with her family, in Canada. At the same time, Christians in her area were reportedly attacked and were forced to flee amid death threats. Some residents however, tried to return but were ostracised and not allowed to buy food. They’re now seeking government support to find permanent homes. Even if the case against her was thrown out, people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan are often subjected to vigilante justice. Furious mobs have been witnessed attacking and killing people accused of blasphemy notwithstanding two prominent Pakistani politicians who have stood their ground against these acts of vandalism and misuse of blasphemy laws have been killed. An international organization urges all to: Pray for a safe and permanent home for the many Christians from Mehrabad who are still living in fear. Pray that officials will act quickly now to ensure their safety and well-being. Continue to pray for God’s protection and favour over Rimsha and her family. - See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/rimshas-neighbours-remain-homeless-plead-government-for-help/#sthash.LLFqUcWt.dpuf
Pakistan's Shia Genocide: Yazidi terrorists shot martyred mourning procession’s incharge, wife
https://www.shiitenews.comNotorious Yazidi nasbi terrorists ferociously shot martyred a mourning procession’s incharge and his wife in Karachi on Monday. Shiite News Correspondent reported here that Muneer Hussain and his wife Razia Begum were on way to their offices when terrorists hit them near Sanubar Cottage. The ferocious and merciless terrorists fired more than a dozen bullets upon Muneer Hussain and fired shots at the face of his wife. They embraced martyrdom for the fact that they were Shiites. Muneer Hussain was incharge of an azadari procession in Khuda Ki Basti Surjani Town and that procession was attacked earlier this month. Outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba that has renamed it as Ahl-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat, detest the azadari of Imam Hussain (AS) and martyrs of Karbala and its offshoot outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi publicly claimed responsibility for the genocide of Shia Muslims. Shia parties have condemned the targeted murders of Shia notable saying that women and children are not spared that reflected the fact that the Yazidis are not Muslims. They said that enemies of Ahl-e-Bait (AS) have left six children orphans. They demanded of the government to pay compensation and employment to the heirs of the Shia martyrs. They demanded public hangings of the terrorists.
Iranian forces attacked a house in Pakistan's Balochistan, 1 killed 7 injured
http://balochwarna.com/A three year-old girl was killed and seven others injured in a missile attack on a house in Kech district of Balochistan on Monday. According to local sources at least three missiles landed on the house of Mullah Umar Baloch in Kolaho near in Thump on early Monday morning. Independent sources reported that the missiles have been fired by Iranian forces from across the artificial border. As a result of the attack the house was destroyed completely resulting in death of three years-old daughter of Umer Baloch and leaving seven others injured. The killed minor has been named has Zalekha and injured were identified as Qayum, his two sons Hassan, Shahid and four women. Umer was not inside the house at the time of attack. Two houses of Umer and his brother Qayum have been completely destroyed whereas their neighbour Arif Salim’s house has also been partially damaged. It is pertinent to mention that on 14 November the Iranian chopper had entered Pakistani Balochistan airspace from western Balochistan’s Saravan [Iranian occupied] region into Mashkhail area of Washuk district in Balochistan near the border. The Iranian bombed several houses in mashkhail but no one was hurt. A senior Pakistani government official had confirmed that the Iranian helicopter infiltrated into the Pakistani Balochistan’s airspace at around 1:30 pm returned after flying around for several minutes. Pakistan has not yet raised the issue with Iran. Iranian officials had threatened that it might even cross the international border into Pakistan to chase what it calls ‘extremist elements’ engaged in anti-state activities in Iran.
Mexico says will award Malala with equality prize
Mexico says it will award its 2013 International Prize for Equality and Non-Discrimination to young Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban last year for promoting education for girls and women.
The award seeks to recognize Malala's efforts for "the protection of human rights" and particularly her struggle to protect the right to education without discrimination on "grounds of age, gender, sex and religion," Mexico's official National Council to Prevent Discrimination said in a statement issued on Sunday.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place in early 2014.
On July 12, Malala celebrated her 16th birthday with a passionate speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in which she said education can change the world.
"Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution," she told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and about 1,000 youth leaders from over 100 countries attending an international Youth Assembly at the UN.
Malala, who was also nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, was given the European Union's Sakharov human rights prize at a ceremony held on World Children's Day last week.
On October 9, 2012, Malala was shot by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants in the town of Mingora for speaking out against the fanatics and promoting education for girls and women in her home region, the Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The UN speech was her first public address since the incident. She has been credited with bringing the issue of women's education to global attention.
"They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed and out of that silence came thousands of voices," Malala said.
"The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born," she stated.
A day after she was shot, a bullet which hit Malala’s skull was removed by surgeons in Peshawar. She was later transferred to a military hospital in Rawalpindi for more specialist treatment.
She is currently living in Britain, where she underwent successful surgery on her skull and ear. Surgeons replaced part of Malala’s skull with a titanium plate and inserted a cochlear implant in her left ear to restore her hearing.
In December 2012, Pakistan and UNESCO unveiled the Malala Plan, which aims to get all the girls in the world into school by the end of 2015.
After Afghanistan, what next for world's biggest military alliance?

Afghan accord near collapse due to new demands
Karzai told Rice that he would sign only after the United States helps his government begin peace talks with the Taliban and agrees to release all 17 Afghan citizens being held in the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, according to Afghan and U.S. officials. In addition to those new demands, the Afghan leader reiterated that he will not sign if “another [U.S.] soldier steps foot into an Afghan home,” Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said. The United States has already promised to show “restraint” in “home entries” by U.S. troops and to carry them out only in conjunction with Afghan troops, but the tactic remains a principal part of U.S. operations against insurgents here.If Rice’s unannounced visit to Afghanistan, her first solo trip abroad in office, was designed to convince Karzai that the Obama administration was not bluffing about a complete withdrawal, it did not appear to work. Instead, Karzai doubled down on the position he staked out Thursday, when he shocked both U.S. officials and an assembly of Afghan elders called to approve the deal by saying that he would not sign it until his growing list of demands was met. The agreement, completed last week after year-long negotiations, outlines the conditions for a follow-on presence of U.S. troops to train and advise the Afghan military and to conduct counterterrorism operations after the Americans and their NATO partners withdraw all combat troops by the end of next year. The administration has said it must be signed before the end of this year if U.S. and NATO planning for post-2014 deployments are to be completed.
On Sunday — despite endorsement of the deal by the assembly, called a loya jirga — Karzai repeated his refusal to sign until after the presidential election here in April. U.S. officials have said they believed that Karzai was bluffing. But “the president said, ‘Madame Rice, the ball is in your court,’ ” Faizi said. “The president said, ‘If you are under the impression the [agreement] will be signed without a peace process, and without a total ban on raids of Afghan homes, this is a serious miscalculation.’ ” Although couched in far more diplomatic language, the National Security Council statement was equally tough, saying that Rice “stressed that we have concluded negotiations and that deferring the signature of the agreement until after next year’s elections is not viable.” It said she “reiterated that, without a prompt signature, the U.S. would have no choice but to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no U.S. or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan.”
Failure to sign, Rice told Karzai, would jeopardize not only the $4 billion in international pledges to fund the Afghan military after 2014, but also an additional $4 billion that has been promised for Afghan economic development. A senior U.S. official in Washington, who was not authorized to discuss the sensitive matter on the record, said the Obama administration was deeply frustrated by Karzai’s new demands. “We can continue to disagree, but at the end of the day, we are the ones who have the troops,” the official said.
“He can insist he has new conditions. But we’ve got a plan,” the official said, referring to the agreement. In his Sunday speech to the loya jirga, Karzai also accused the U.S. government of seeking to undermine him and the election, and he said he needed additional assurances. Faizi said that Rice stressed during the meeting that the administration has “no favored candidate in that election” and is “strongly committed to not interfering with it.” “That was a commitment that was made in very strong terms and very strong words, and that clearly satisfied the president,” Faizi said. But when the conversation shifted to other matters, he said, it became more tense. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, the commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, and James B. Cunningham, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, accompanied Rice to the meeting. According to Faizi, Dunford said he has instructed all U.S. commanders in Afghanistan to take “all necessary measures” to try to avoid civilian casualties in military missions. Karzai plans to closely scrutinize U.S. military behavior over the coming weeks, Faizi said. “We need a change in U.S. behavior, so [Karzai] said, ‘Give us Afghans time to see a change in behavior,’ ” Faizi said. Faizi said Cunningham strongly objected to Karzai’s demand for the release of Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. But Karzai noted that the members of the loya jirga had also called for such a release, the spokesman said. The spokesman said the release of the Afghan prisoners is a vital step toward launching a peace process with Taliban militants. Karzai is also expecting the U.S. government to work with Pakistan’s government to start those talks, the spokesman said. “He strongly believes Afghan peace is firmly in the hands of the United States first, and secondly in the hands of Pakistan,” Faizi said. Some militants who launch attacks in Afghanistan are thought to be based in Pakistan. Over the summer, U.S. officials worked with Pakistani leaders to try to arrange peace talks between Karzai’s government and Taliban leaders in Qatar. After the Taliban leaders hoisted their group’s banner at their hotel in Doha, Karzai vowed not to attend.
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